June 27: this day in history

Teen Murti Bhawan, the official residence of the first Prime Minister of independent India, Pt. Jawahar Lal Nehru, was converted into the Nehru Memorial Museum on June 27, 1964. It has been divided into three sections – the Nehru Museum, the library and the Nehru Planetarium.

The museum building has been developed as a personalia museum, where the bedroom, drawing room and study have been preserved as it is. Through a series of interlinked exhibitions, the life and work of Pt. Nehru, against the background of the struggle for Indian independence is portrayed here. Significant events of Indian freedom struggle are portrayed through contemporary photographs, photocopies of manuscripts, letters, newspapers, periodicals and documentary materials. The gifts gallery displays the beautiful gifts received by Pt. Nehru during his visits, both in India and abroad.

Within the vicinity is a protected monument, which was probably a hunting lodge and was built during the time of Feroze Shah Tughlaq.

The library has a rich and varied collection of journals, books, photographs and other valuable research material. A delight for researchers, scholars and students, everything is available on microfilm and microfiche. It also has books and material related to modern and contemporary history.

The Nehru Planetarium promotes education in astronomy, celestial sciences. It is one of the few museums in the world to have frequently updated full dome shows. The shows ‘Ultimate Universe’, ‘New Solar System’ and ‘Astronaut’ are very innovative and informative.

Here are some other relevant events that happened on June 27 over the years.

1693: ‘Ladies Mercury’, the first woman’s magazine was published in London.

1871: The yen is adopted as the new form of currency in Japan.

1905: Mutiny of Russian sailors aboard the Battleship ‘Potemkin’, after which they sail for Odessa.

1929: The first demo of the colour television took place on this day.

1954: The first atomic power station opens in Obninsk near Moscow in Russia.

1957: A report is published by the British Medical Research Council, which suggests a direct link between smoking and lung cancer.

1962: Electronic Data Systems started by Ross Perot.

1967: Enfield in London gets its first ATM.

1981: Constitution adopted by Cambodia.

1983: The highest price ever, of 960,200 pounds, paid for a living artist’s painting.

2007: Gordon Brown swears in as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

2008: Bill Gates resigns as the Chairman of Microsoft and starts working full time for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.